Jawed Akhtar “The ink of a scholar is superior to the blood of the Martyr” – Prophet Muhammad.
Thanks to Globalization and its allied forces, today no concept remains compartmentalized. The integration of world media on one such concept – the Islamic concept of “Jihad” – has caused quite a stir. At present it is synonymous with suicide bombings, hijackings, etc., while at the same time it courted “Islamophobia” in West, curiosity by misinterpretation in the East.
As we go deeper into this faith, we know that the core literature of Muslims world over, is the Holy Quran. Islamic scholar, Asghar Ali Engineer states that Jihad does not mean ‘war’ in the Holy Quran. Other words for it like Qital & Harb Jihad have been used in its root meaning – which mean to strive for betterment of society, to spread goodness and contain evil. He further states that Jihad occurs 41 times in the Quran, and not a single verse uses it in the context of war!
In the strictest sense of the term, there are two kinds of Jihad: Jihad-E-Akbar (The Greater Jihad) and Jihad-E-Asgar (The Lesser Jihad). The former laid stress on by Allah as well Prophet Muhammad, pertains to curbing one’s extravagant desires, vices. The second denotes struggle against injustice and tyranny. The defence of territory or self, conveys the same – seen in Tipu Sultan’s armed resistance to British.
We live in a world with people of diverse thought processes. At times we could be misled by pre-conceived notions and misinformed sources about a particular issue or concept. And so it is important that we analyse and view things objectively rather than form judgments.
Thanks to Globalization and its allied forces, today no concept remains compartmentalized. The integration of world media on one such concept – the Islamic concept of “Jihad” – has caused quite a stir. At present it is synonymous with suicide bombings, hijackings, etc., while at the same time it courted “Islamophobia” in West, curiosity by misinterpretation in the East.
As we go deeper into this faith, we know that the core literature of Muslims world over, is the Holy Quran. Islamic scholar, Asghar Ali Engineer states that Jihad does not mean ‘war’ in the Holy Quran. Other words for it like Qital & Harb Jihad have been used in its root meaning – which mean to strive for betterment of society, to spread goodness and contain evil. He further states that Jihad occurs 41 times in the Quran, and not a single verse uses it in the context of war!
In the strictest sense of the term, there are two kinds of Jihad: Jihad-E-Akbar (The Greater Jihad) and Jihad-E-Asgar (The Lesser Jihad). The former laid stress on by Allah as well Prophet Muhammad, pertains to curbing one’s extravagant desires, vices. The second denotes struggle against injustice and tyranny. The defence of territory or self, conveys the same – seen in Tipu Sultan’s armed resistance to British.
We live in a world with people of diverse thought processes. At times we could be misled by pre-conceived notions and misinformed sources about a particular issue or concept. And so it is important that we analyse and view things objectively rather than form judgments.
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